Teaching Wizards

Excellent GCSE results are no accident. They do not depend on luck! Active and thorough revision is essential if you are to maximise your chance of achieving your targets in exams this Summer.

Revision includes many things: Learning facts, practicing timed past exam papers and questions,discussing ideas, developing understanding of topics, practicing techniques.

Make sure your revision is productive and worthwhile – not just a waste of your time and energy.

• Set out a revision schedule using the planning sheets and reward yourself if you stick to it.
• Revise in short bursts, about 40 minutes per session. If you revise for very long sessions it becomes less productive.
• Take a 10-15 minute break between revision sessions to refresh your mind and body.
• Take each subject and break it down into smaller topics. Try to cover the set topic in the assigned revision session. This will give you a realistic and achievable target.
• Don’t just aimlessly stick your head in a book and try to cram/learn things off by heart. Make each session active by making summary notes, changing the format of your notes.
• Try these ideas: turn written notes into spider diagrams, underline or highlight key phrases,make charts/grids or write explanatory interpretations of diagrams in books.
• Look after your body and brain! Drink plenty of water and try to eat a healthy diet.
• Revise with a friend if you can stay focused. Discuss topics and ask each other questions.

When using past papers/questions teachers have given you, practise the following:

• Identifying key words and phrases in the question (verbs). This will make sure you do exactly what the question asks.
• Applying appropriate case study material to answers for certain subjects.
• Producing a simple bullet point plan of your answer, which spells out the key factors to be included and the order in which you are to place them.
• Have a go at writing a full answer under strict time conditions. This will help you to use your time appropriately and to get used to time pressure.

If you come across a problem you cannot solve, or a question you cannot answer, make a note of it andask your teacher. Other students may be finding this topic difficult as well.

Recognise that everyone finds exams stressful.

Exam periods are a stressful time for all people. Accept that we all get anxious at times. Face up to thesituation and help to reduce stress by organising your time appropriately and using the time you haveleft.

You should include exercise/leisure time in your revision schedule but make sure you get your prioritiesright. Be prepared to say no to offers of evenings out for a few weeks. You will have earned the right tolots of leisure time once the exams are over and you know that you have given it your best shot.

Make full use of the excellent GCSE Revision sites. Here are my top ten. Check out which ones work for you.

1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize
2. http://www.mathsrevision.net/gcse
3. http://revisioncentre.co.uk/index.html
4. http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/revise.htm
5. http://scienceaid.co.uk
6. http://www.topmarks.co.uk
7. http://www.englishbiz.co.uk
8. http://www.s-cool.co.uk
9. http://www.historygcse.org

Don’t Miss Your Exam

I Hope your students find this helpful, why not use Show My Homework to clearly display all their exam dates so that they can be fully prepared.

Augmented Reality is coming of age in a big way. It is the kind of technology you see in Sci-Fi films. In simple terms, Augmented Reality essenially provides additional information about the user’s surroundings. 

Augmented Layar-Reality-Browser

For example you can overlays images, website links and data on top of the image displayed by the phone’s camera in order to provide useful context-specific information. For example during a trip to the Science Museum, we could hold up the iPhone’s camera to capture the surrounding area and the technology would display a wealth of additional information onto the smartphone’s field of vision, such as the most popular zones within the musuem, additional information about artefacts/history, places to eat and nearby parks for lunch. One European company doing fantastic things in this space is Layar. To see the app in action visit Layer.com.

At Teaching-Wizards, we are really excited about introducing this technology to students through our workshops. Arrange a free consultation to find out how Teaching Wizards can help enrich your classroom by calling 020 8133 4560.

I woke up this morning to read a great write up from Mike Elgan, editor of Cult of Mac. Mike talks about the benefit of iPads versus TV for children from a Parent perspective and make some excellent points. I have extracted his bullet points here but I’d recomend you read the full article by checking out his blog.

• The iPad has far fewer, far less harmful ads than TV. It can even be rendered “commercial-free.” Imagine that.
• The iPad is interactive, for the most part, rather than passive. Instead of just staring motionless at TV, kids could be solving puzzles, actively playing games, typing, drawing and other activities.
• Parents can control iPad content. The App Store contains literally thousands of educational children’s books, games and other apps. By not sharing the iTunes password with children, parents can have total control over what’s on that iPad. By not connecting it to the Wi-Fi network, parents can easily prevent even Internet surfing.
• The iPad can be made age-appropriate. Who knows what kids are watching on TV in their bedrooms? It’s common for children to be attracted to programming for teens, and for teens to watch programming for adults.
• The iPad can be taken outside.
• The iPad can encourage the following of curiosity and discovery. By loading that sucker with a huge number of educational programs, kids can explore and search and discover what their interests really are, rather than being spoon-fed a celebrity-obsessed, shallow and limited set of interests by the commercial-driven TV industry.
• The iPad builds skills. By using an iPad, children can learn typing, multi-touch navigation, problem solving (with puzzles and games) and many other skills. Watching TV imparts zero valuable skills.
• The iPad can actually facilitate parenting. One example of many is a new app called “You Did It!,” which lets kids earn points for doing their chores.

Dear Head,

Our team of Teaching Wizards bring iPads and Gadgets into the classroom to give students a whole new learning experience using the latest technology. We focus on Literacy, Numeracy, Science and ICT using touch, gestures and the latest tech gadgets to captivate student imaginations to bring learning to life.

Our workshops are delivered in your own classroom, giving every student their own iPad/tablet, providing a magical and fun learning experience.

The benefit for the school is low cost, flexibility, no maintenance and a future-proof curriculum that completely engages students and empowers teachers to deliver outstanding lessons.

Teaching Wizards are currently looking to launch our service with classes from five different Primary schools in London. Would you be interested in making your school one of them?

If this is of interest, could I propose to set a date to visit your school and bring some iPads to show you how we work and the impact we can make?  We can also talk through the costs, as I know this is something you will be worried about.

Please confirm your interest by calling 020 8133 4560 to arrange a visit from one our Teaching Wizards.

I am confident you will be pleasantly surprised with our unique approach.

Our team of Teaching Wizards bring iPads and tablets into the classroom to give students a whole new learning experience using the latest technology.

We use state of the art software and gadgets to captivate student imaginations to bring learning to life. Our workshops are delivered in your own classroom, giving every student their own iPad/tablet, providing a hands on magical learning experience.

Arrange a free consultation today to find out how Teaching Wizards can help enrich your classroom.